I sniff at the forkful of noodles with their pungent red sauce a moment longer, and glance back over to Sierra. She's pursing her lips a little.

This isn't food, this is... well, maybe it is food, but not any kind I had ever been given. But Sierra seems to be just a little upset, and maybe it's because I'm not eating it, so I take a bite.

Big mistake.

It's too acidic and rich and flavorful and wrong and it immediately falls back out of my mouth onto the plate.

I'm sure what to do. I'm tempted to just not eat, but she'd definitely hear that, or rather, the absence of eating. And eating was important so that I was in good condition to guide her. "Sierra?"

"Yes?"

"This isn't food." Seeing her hand clench slightly on her fork, I quickly tried to backpedal a little bit. "Or, it's not food for dogs."

Sierra frowned. "...what have they been feeding you?"

"Kibble!"

"...we'll go get some tomorrow. In the meantime..." Sierra stands up, and walks over to the cupboard to pull out another plate, placing it on the table, and puts some noodles on it, then butter, and just a spoonful of the sauce, which she mixed together. Her fingertips traced gracefully along the tabletop until her fingers bumped against my plate, and she replaced the old plate with the new one.

I take a deep breath, and made myself take another bite.

It's edible!

It's still kinda rich, but it isn't overpowering anymore. It's something new, which is a little terrifying, but it's not inedible. There's something kinda good about the flavor and feel in my mouth, but I can't really describe it... my tail starts wagging, thumping against the chair as I start to eat it more enthusiastically.

Sierra smiles, and reaches over, her hand bumping gently against my head, then petting me softly as I continue to eat. "You like that?"

I have to stop myself from eating for a moment. "Yeah! It's good! It's not too much!

She walks back to her chair and sat down, returning to eating her own plate of noodles. She ended up eating my previous plate of noodles, too, and I watched, still a little hungry, but she was in charge of how much I was fed, right?

She paused, tapped her fork against the plate a little. "Are you still hungry, Dust? You can eat some more noodles."

"Oh! Thank you!" I hurried over to get some more noodles. The butter wasn't melting as well in them -- clearly I didn't have the technique down -- and I was extra cautious with the sauce, but they still ended up being pretty good, just not as good as the ones Sierra had given me. I peered at her curiously. "Are you a chef?"

Sierra laughed at that. "No, I just cook for myself. This is simple, anyone could do it. I could teach you to do it."

"Well, I'm not really supposed to eat people food...." I wasn't supposed to be sitting around naked, either. I still wasn't used to it, the chair felt different underneath my butt, and there was air on my skin where it usually wasn't. 

Lifting my eyes from the noodles, I saw Sierra, also naked... she's still pretty to look at. I'm supposed to stare, but maybe that rule only applies when people can actually see me too?

I stop looking at her body so much, just in case, focusing on her face.

Her face is frowning. "Look, I'm grateful to Malcolm for giving you to me and all-- but I think he's been a little too controlling. There's no harm in eating some human food."

My ears and tail droop. "Okay...." I like Malcolm, and I'm sure he trained me right, but he wouldn't want me to argue with Sierra-- unless I absolutely needed to argue with her to keep her safe, of course. Me eating human food won't likely cause any harm in the short term, as long as I didn't eat food with the overpowering taste that she seemed to like.

Sierra taps her fork against her plate once, then smiled. "Malcolm was trying his best, but everyone lives in different circumstances, you know? Soon enough you'll realize that my way of doing things is better for you."

I hope so.

Everything since I entered her apartment is nothing like I had prepared for, and it all feels very confusing.